CN116319156A

CN116319156A - Industrial network system

Info

Publication number: CN116319156A
Application number: CN202310213345.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩顺成; 刘姝琦; 杨德奇
Original assignee: Siemens Ltd China
Current assignee: Siemens Ltd China
Priority date: 2023-03-07
Filing date: 2023-03-07
Publication date: 2023-06-23

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an industrial network system, which comprises a main ring network and at least two auxiliary ring networks, wherein the main ring network comprises at least two first switches, and each auxiliary ring network comprises at least two second switches; the number of the first switches is the same as the number of the second switches in each slave ring network, the first switches are connected with the second switches in each slave ring network in a one-to-one correspondence manner, at least two first switches and at least two second switches in each slave ring network form a coupling group, so that at least two communication links exist between each first switch and each second switch in each coupling group, and one other communication link between the first switch and the second switch in each coupling group can be started when one communication link in the at least two communication links fails. The embodiment of the invention can reduce or even avoid the occurrence of the condition that the underhung single-ring network is out of connection due to line faults.

Description

Industrial network system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of industrial networking, in particular to an industrial network system.

Background

Currently, in industrial production, a common networking scheme is to hang a plurality of single-ring networks under a single-ring network. In the practical application scenario of the networking scheme, the underhung single ring network is always out of connection due to line faults, namely redundancy is lost, which causes the abnormal control process of the equipment based on the networking scheme to further influence normal production activities.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides an industrial network system, which can reduce or even avoid the occurrence of the condition that an underhung single-ring network is out of connection due to line faults.

The industrial network system provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises a main ring network and at least two auxiliary ring networks, wherein the main ring network comprises at least two first switches, and each auxiliary ring network comprises at least two second switches; the number of the first switches in the master ring network is the same as the number of the second switches in each slave ring network, the first switches are connected with the second switches in each slave ring network in a one-to-one correspondence manner, the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each slave ring network form a coupling group, so that at least two communication links exist between each first switch and each second switch in each coupling group, and one other communication link between the first switch and the second switch in each coupling group can be started when one communication link fails.

In one embodiment, in each coupling group, one of the at least two first switches is a master switch and the other switches in the coupling group are slaves; wherein:

each of the slave switches is configured to: transmitting a probe frame to the master switch;

the master switch is configured to: based on whether or not probe frames sent by each slave switch in the coupled group are received, determining whether or not there is a failed communication link, and communicating with one slave switch via the other communication link when it is determined that one communication link between the slave switch and the master switch is failed.

Further, in each coupling group, in a case where one slave switch is the second switch and the master switch and the slave switch are in a one-to-one correspondence, the at least two communication links between the master switch and the slave switch include:

a first communication link directly connected between the master switch and the slave switch;

the master switch, one other first switch in the coupling group other than the master switch, a second switch in the coupling group having a one-to-one correspondence with the other first switch, and a second communication link formed by the slave switch.

Further, in each coupling group, in a case where one slave switch is the second switch and the master switch and the slave switch are not in one-to-one correspondence, the at least two communication links between the master switch and the slave switch include:

the master switch, the first switch with one-to-one correspondence with the slave switch and the third communication link formed by the slave switch;

the system comprises a master switch, a second switch with a one-to-one correspondence with the master switch and a fourth communication link formed by the slave switch.

Further, each of the probe frames sent by the slave switch includes a switch identifier corresponding to the slave switch and a link identifier corresponding to a communication link used for transmitting the probe frame; correspondingly, the master switch is configured to: determining the switch identification in the unreceived probe frame according to the switch identification in each received probe frame; determining a communication link with faults according to the received link identification in each detection frame; the non-failed communication link is enabled for the switch identification corresponding to the slave switch in the non-received probe frame.

In one embodiment, the master ring network is a single ring network constructed by the at least two first switches through an interconnection technology based on a media redundancy protocol, and the slave ring network is a single ring network constructed by the at least two second switches through an interconnection technology based on a media redundancy protocol.

Further, the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each of the slave ring networks form one of the coupled groups through an interconnection technology based on a media redundancy protocol.

In one embodiment, a third switch or firewall is disposed on a communication link directly connected between the first switch and the corresponding second switch.

In one embodiment, the second switch in the slave ring network is connected to a man-machine interaction device, so that the slave ring network accesses the man-machine interaction device.

In one embodiment, the main ring network further comprises a fourth switch, and the fourth switch is connected with the automation control device, so that the main ring network accesses the automation control device.

The industrial network system provided by the embodiment of the invention has at least the following technical effects after being respectively or combined:

(1) Since the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each of the slave ring networks form one coupling group, there are at least two communication links between each first switch and each second switch in each of the coupling groups. When a communication link between a first switch and a second switch fails, the first switch may communicate with the second switch over other reachable communication links. Therefore, when one communication link fails, only other communication links in the coupling group are required to be started, so that normal communication between the secondary ring network where the second switch is located and the main ring network can be ensured, and the problem that the secondary ring network where the second switch is located is not connected, namely redundancy is not lost is avoided. Moreover, the coupling groups constructed in the above manner are independent of each other, and are not switched from one coupling group to another, and are not mutually influenced. When a communication failure occurs between a master switch and a slave switch in a coupling group, other communication lines in the coupling group can be enabled to ensure normal communication between the master switch and the slave switch in the coupling group, and the communication lines in the other coupling group are not switched to communicate, so that the communication between other slave ring networks and the master ring network is not affected.

(2) In one embodiment, in each coupling group, one of the at least two first switches is a master switch, and the other switches in the coupling group are slaves, which facilitates management of the other switches. Moreover, each slave switch in a coupling group makes it very convenient for the master switch to determine whether a failed communication link exists by transmitting a probe frame to the master switch, and further communicates with a slave switch through other communication links when it is determined that one communication link between the slave switch and the master switch fails.

(3) In one embodiment, each slave switch transmits a probe frame to the master switch including a switch identification that characterizes which slave switch the source of the probe frame is, and a link identification that indicates over which communication link the slave switch transmitted the probe frame. When the master switch does not receive a probe frame sent from a slave switch in the same coupling group, it indicates that the communication link currently used by the slave switch is problematic, and the link identification may indicate which communication link is currently used, and thus may enable other normal communication links. It can be seen that by adding the switch identification link identification to the probe frame, the master switch can very conveniently determine the abnormal slave switch and communication link, and further facilitate the replacement of other communication links for the slave switch.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained based on these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an industrial network system in one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an industrial network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

M10	main ring network
		M21	First slave ring network
M22	Second slave ring network
		S2、S3	First exchange
S4、S5	Second switch in first slave ring network
		S6、S7	Second switch in second slave ring network
L1	Communication link for direct connection between a first switch S2 and a second switch S4
		L2	Communication link for direct connection between a first switch S2 and a second switch S6
L3	Communication link for direct connection between a first switch S3 and a second switch S5
		L4	Communication link for direct connection between a first switch S3 and a second switch S7
S8	Third switch between first switch S2 and second switch S4
		S9	Third switch between first switch S3 and second switch S5
D1	Firewall between first switch S2 and second switch S6
		D2	Firewall between first switch S3 and second switch S7
H1	First man-machine interaction equipment accessed from ring network
		H2	Second man-machine interaction equipment accessed from ring network
S10	Fourth switch
		P1	Automatic control device

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments, and all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making any inventive effort based on the embodiments of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention provides an industrial network system.

The system comprises a main ring network and at least two auxiliary ring networks, wherein the main ring network comprises at least two first switches, and each auxiliary ring network comprises at least two second switches; the number of the first switches in the master ring network is the same as the number of the second switches in each slave ring network, the first switches are connected with the second switches in each slave ring network in a one-to-one correspondence manner, the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each slave ring network form a coupling group, so that at least two communication links exist between each first switch and each second switch in each coupling group, and one other communication link between the first switch and the second switch in each coupling group can be started when one communication link fails.

It can be understood that the at least two slave ring networks are lower ring networks of the master ring network.

It is understood that at least two first switches in the main ring network are sequentially connected to form a ring network, so that at least two first switches in the main ring network can communicate with each other.

It will be appreciated that at least two second switches in each slave ring network are connected in sequence to form a ring network, so that at least two second switches in each slave ring network can communicate with each other.

It can be understood that the number of the first switches in the master ring network is the same as the number of the second switches in each slave ring network, so that the first switches in the master ring network and the second switches in each slave ring network are in one-to-one correspondence and are connected in one-to-one correspondence, and a communication link from each first switch to the corresponding second switch is formed.

For example, referring to fig. 1, there are two first switches S2 and S3 in total in the master ring network M10, the number of slave ring networks is 2, the first slave ring network M21 includes two second switches S4 and S5, the second slave ring network M22 includes second switches S6 and S7, the second switch S4 in the first slave ring network M21 and the first switch S2 in the master ring network M10 are in correspondence, and the second switch S4 and the first switch S2 are connected to form a communication link L1 between the second switch S4 and the first switch S2. The second switch S5 in the first slave ring network M21 and the first switch S3 in the master ring network M10 are in a corresponding relationship, and the second switch S5 and the first switch S3 are connected, forming a communication link L3 between the second switch S5 and the first switch S3. The second switch S6 in the second slave ring network M22 and the first switch S2 in the master ring network M10 are in a corresponding relationship, and the second switch S6 and the first switch S2 are connected to form a communication link L2 between the second switch S6 and the first switch S2. The second switch S7 in the second slave ring network M22 and the first switch S3 in the master ring network M10 are in a corresponding relationship, and the second switch S7 and the first switch S3 are connected to form a communication link L4 between the second switch S7 and the first switch S3.

It is understood that each of the first switches in the master ring network and one of the second switches in each of the slave ring networks have a communication link directly connected therebetween, and that different ones of the first switches in the master ring network and different ones of the second switches in each of the slave ring networks have a communication link directly connected therebetween, i.e., a one-to-one correspondence between each of the first switches in the master ring network and each of the second switches in each of the slave ring networks.

It will be appreciated that the at least two first switches in the master ring network and the at least two second switches in each of the slave ring networks form a coupling group. For example, referring to fig. 1, two first switches S2 and S3 in the master ring network M10 and two second switches S4 and S5 in the first slave ring network M21 form one coupling group, and two first switches S2 and S3 in the master ring network M10 and two second switches S6 and S7 in the second slave ring network M22 form one coupling group, together two coupling groups may be formed.

It will be appreciated that after a coupling group is formed, there are at least two communication links between a first switch and a second switch within the coupling group. For example, referring to fig. 1, there are two communication links between the first switch S2 and the second switch S4, one is a communication link L1 formed by direct connection between the second switch S4 and the first switch S2, and the other is a communication link L3-first switch S2 formed by direct connection between the second switch S4-second switch S5 and the first switch S3.

It will be appreciated that since there are at least two communication links between a first switch and a second switch, when one communication link fails, the first switch may communicate with the second switch over other reachable communication links. Therefore, when one communication link fails, only other communication links in the coupling group are required to be switched, so that normal communication between the secondary ring network where the second switch is located and the main ring network can be ensured, and the secondary ring network where the second switch is located is prevented from being disconnected, namely the problem of redundancy loss is avoided.

If the above-mentioned coupling group is not formed, when a problem occurs in a communication link between a second switch and a first switch in a slave ring network, the first switch needs to be switched. After switching the first switch, if the communication link between the second switch in the other slave ring network and the switched first switch also fails, the other slave ring network is disconnected because the other slave ring network cannot be switched back. For example, in a scenario where the master ring network M100 hangs down the first slave ring network M21 and the second slave ring network M22, the master ring network M10 starts to communicate with the first slave ring network M21 and the second slave ring network M22 through the first switch S2, respectively. When the communication link L1 between the first switch S2 in the master ring network M10 and the second switch S4 in the first slave ring network M21 fails, a switch is made from the first switch S2 to the first switch S3. That is, after the switching, the master ring network M10 communicates with the first slave ring network M21 and the second slave ring network M22 through the first switch S3, respectively. If the communication link L4 between the first switch S3 and the second switch S7 also fails, the communication link L1 between the first switch S2 and the second switch S4 is not restored to normal at this time, and therefore, the switch from the first switch S3 to the first switch S2 cannot be performed, and only the first switch S3 can continue to communicate with the first slave ring network M21 and the second slave ring network M22, respectively. However, since the communication link L4 between the first switch S3 and the second switch S7 fails, normal communication is not possible between the master ring network M10 and the second slave ring network M22, and the second slave ring network M22 is disconnected.

By comparison, it was found that if no coupling group is formed, only one communication link exists between one second switch and one first switch, and therefore, when an abnormality occurs in the communication link, only the first switch can be switched. In the industrial network system provided by the embodiment of the invention, the coupling group is formed, so that at least two communication links are arranged between one first switch and one second switch, and when one communication link fails, the first switch can communicate with the second switch through other reachable communication links without switching the first switch.

It will be appreciated that the coupling groups are independent of each other and do not switch from one coupling group to another, and that the coupling groups do not affect each other. When a communication failure occurs between a master switch and a slave switch in a coupling group, other communication lines in the coupling group can be replaced to ensure normal communication between the master switch and the slave switch without switching to the communication lines in the other coupling group for communication.

That is, one first switch is determined to be a master switch in one coupling group, and the other first switches and the respective second switches in the coupling group are slave switches.

For example, referring to fig. 1, in the coupling group formed by the first switches S2, S3 and the second switches S4, S5, the first switch S2 is a master switch, and the first switch S3, the second switch S4, the second switch S5 are slaves. In this case, the first switch S2 corresponds to the master manager, and the first switch S3, the second switch S4, and the second switch S5 correspond to the clients. In this coupling group, the initial communication links for each slave switch to send probe frames are: first switch s3→first switch S2; second switch s4→first switch S2; second switch s5→first switch s3→first switch S2. If the master switch S2 receives the probe frames sent by the three slave switches S3, S4, S5, it is indicated that all the three initial communication links are normal, and if only the probe frames sent by the slave switches S3, S4 are received, it is indicated that the communication links of the slave switch S5 are: the second switch s5→the first switch s3→the first switch S2 is faulty. Since the communication link between the first switch s3→the first switch S2 is not problematic, the communication link between the second switch s5→the first switch S3 is problematic. At this time, the communication line is replaced for the second switch S5, for example, the second switch s5→the second switch s4→the first switch S2.

It will be appreciated that only one first switch acts as a master switch and the other switches act as slaves in a coupled group, thus facilitating management of the other switches.

For example, referring to fig. 1, the slave switch S4 and the master switch S2 are in a one-to-one correspondence and connected relationship, and for the slave switch S4, a first communication link in a communication line between the slave switch S4 and the master switch S2 is the master switch s2→the slave switch S4, and a second communication link is: master switch s2→slave switch s3→slave switch s5→slave switch S4.

For example, referring to fig. 1, the slave switch S5 and the master switch S2 are not in one-to-one correspondence, and for the slave switch S5, a third communication link in the communication line between the slave switch S5 and the master switch S2 is the master switch s2→the slave switch s3→the slave switch S5; the fourth communication link is: master switch s2→slave switch s4→slave switch S5.

That is, each slave switch transmits a probe frame to the master switch including a switch identification that characterizes which slave switch the source of the probe frame is, and a link identification that indicates over which communication link the slave switch transmitted the probe frame. When the master switch does not receive a probe frame sent from a slave switch in the same coupling group, it indicates that the communication link currently used by the slave switch is problematic, and the link identification may indicate which communication link is currently used, and thus may enable other normal communication links.

It can be seen that by adding the switch identification link identification to the probe frame, the master switch can very conveniently determine the abnormal slave switch and communication link, and further facilitate the replacement of other communication links for the slave switch.

The english of the media redundancy protocol is Medium Redundancy Protocol, abbreviated as MRP, and the interconnection technology based on the media redundancy protocol refers to the interconnection technology based on the MRP, and may also be referred to as the MRP interconnection technology.

It can be understood that, because the main ring network is constructed by at least two first switches through the MRP interconnection technology, the main ring network is an MRP ring network, and the slave ring network is also an MRP ring network, thereby meeting the millisecond-level network self-healing architecture.

In one embodiment, the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each of the slave ring networks form one of the coupled groups by an interconnection technique based on a media redundancy protocol.

Because the master ring network and the slave ring network are both constructed based on the MRP interconnection technology, the coupling group can be formed based on the MRP interconnection technology. Compared with the Standby coupling technology, the MRP interconnection technology can reduce the overall coupling line error caused by single-point faults. The Standby coupling technique is the wait coupling technique.

In a practical scenario, it is often necessary to add a new switch or firewall between the first switch and the second switch, for the sake of distinction, the switch added between the first switch and the second switch is herein referred to as the third switch. Referring to fig. 2, a third switch S8 is added between the first switch S2 and the second switch S4, a third switch S9 is added between the first switch S3 and the second switch S5, a firewall D1 is added between the first switch S2 and the second switch S6, and a second firewall D2 is added between the first switch S3 and the second switch S7.

In the embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 2, if a problem occurs in a communication link directly connected between the third switch S8 and the second switch S4, the second switch S4 may communicate with the first switch S2 through another communication link, for example, the second switch S4-the second switch S5-the first switch S3-the first switch S2. If the communication link of the direct connection between the first switch S2 and the second switch S6 is also problematic, the second switch S6 may communicate with the first switch S2 through other communication links, for example, the second switch S6-second switch S7-first switch S3-first switch S2.

It will be appreciated that if no coupling group is formed, if a problem occurs with the communication link directly connected between the third switch S8 and the second switch S4, the first switch S2 is unaware that the communication link is problematic and therefore is not switched from the first switch S2 to the first switch S3, and therefore the first is now disconnected from the ring network M21. Next, if the communication link between the firewall D1 and the second switch S6 is also problematic, the first switch S2 is also unaware that the communication link is problematic, and at this time, the second slave ring M22 is disconnected. It can be seen that when a firewall, a switch or other devices are added to the link, if a problem occurs in the communication link between the newly added device and the second switch, the second switch is disconnected from the ring network.

In contrast, because the coupling group is formed in the embodiment of the invention, when equipment is added between the first switch and the second switch, and when a problem occurs in a communication link between the newly added equipment and the second switch, the second switch is not disconnected from the ring network, and normal communication work is ensured.

It can be seen that the industrial network system provided in the embodiment of the present invention allows hardware devices, i.e. the third switch and the firewall, to be deployed on the coupled line. In an actual scene, the processing priority of the control data of the automatic control device can be fully ensured by reasonably setting the configuration parameters of the virtual local area network of the third switch and the firewall device.

That is, the second switch in the slave ring network may be connected to the man-machine interaction device, so that the slave ring network has access to the man-machine interaction device. Other devices, such as input-output devices, cameras, etc., may be accessed in addition to the human-machine interaction device. Devices which need to access the network environment can be added according to actual requirements of the site.

Referring to fig. 2, the second switch S4 is connected to the man-machine interaction device H1, so that the first slave ring network M21 has access to the man-machine interaction device. The second switch S7 is connected to the man-machine interaction device H2, so that the second slave ring network M22 accesses the man-machine interaction device.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the master ring M10 further includes a fourth switch S10, and the fourth switch S10 is connected to the automation control device P1, so that the master ring M10 accesses the automation control device P1.

That is, in addition to at least two first switches in the main ring network to participate in the formation of the coupling group, a fourth switch is also included in the main ring network, the fourth switch being connected to an automatic control device, for example a programmable logic controller PLC. The automatic control device may control production activities of the production devices in the field environment.

For example, in one scenario, a user issues a control instruction through a man-machine interaction device connected to a second switch in a slave ring network, the control instruction is sent to a first switch in a master ring network through the slave ring network, the first switch forwards the control instruction to a fourth switch, and the fourth switch sends the control instruction to a programmable logic controller PLC, so that the programmable logic controller PLC controls production activities on site according to the control instruction of the user.

It can be understood that the industrial network system provided by the embodiment of the invention has high reliability, can solve the problem of multi-ring network coupling redundancy switching of the ring network formed by the automatic control equipment and the industrial switch equipment, and different coupling groups work independently of each other so that each slave ring network can communicate with the master ring network independently of each other, can deploy a third switch or a firewall, does not influence the self ring network and the coupling redundancy requirement when a single-point physical line fails, and does not influence the switching problem of other ring networks. The industrial network system provided by the embodiment of the invention can be applied to an operation technology network system with severe requirements on data transmission instantaneity and redundancy, and belongs to the technical field of industrial wired communication.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and identical and similar parts of each embodiment are all referred to each other, and each embodiment mainly describes differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the device embodiments, since they are substantially similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference is made to the description of the method embodiments in part.

The foregoing embodiments have been provided for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the present invention in further detail, and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but are merely intended to cover any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. based on the teachings of the invention.

Claims

1. An industrial network system is characterized by comprising a main ring network and at least two auxiliary ring networks, wherein the main ring network comprises at least two first switches, and each auxiliary ring network comprises at least two second switches; the number of the first switches in the master ring network is the same as the number of the second switches in each slave ring network, the first switches are connected with the second switches in each slave ring network in a one-to-one correspondence manner, the at least two first switches and the at least two second switches in each slave ring network form a coupling group, so that at least two communication links exist between each first switch and each second switch in each coupling group, and one other communication link between the first switch and the second switch in each coupling group can be started when one communication link fails.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein in each coupling group, one of the at least two first switches is a master switch and the other switches in the coupling group are slave switches; wherein:

3. The system of claim 2, wherein in each coupling group, in the case where one slave switch is the second switch and the master switch and the slave switch are in a one-to-one correspondence, the at least two communication links between the master switch and the slave switch include:

4. The system of claim 2, wherein in each coupling group, in the case where one slave switch is the second switch and the master switch and the slave switch are not in a one-to-one correspondence, the at least two communication links between the master switch and the slave switch include:

5. The system of claim 2, wherein each of the probe frames sent from the slave switch includes a switch identifier corresponding to the slave switch and a link identifier corresponding to a communication link used for transmitting the probe frame; correspondingly, the master switch is configured to: determining the switch identification in the unreceived probe frame according to the switch identification in each received probe frame; determining a communication link with faults according to the received link identification in each detection frame; the non-failed communication link is enabled for the switch identification corresponding to the slave switch in the non-received probe frame.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the master ring network is a single ring network constructed by the at least two first switches through an interconnection technique based on a media redundancy protocol, and the slave ring network is a single ring network constructed by the at least two second switches through an interconnection technique based on a media redundancy protocol.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said at least two first switches and said at least two second switches in each of said slave ring networks form one of said coupled groups by an interconnection technique based on a media redundancy protocol.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein a third switch or firewall is provided on a communication link directly connecting between the first switch and the corresponding second switch.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the second switch in the slave ring network is connected to a human-machine interaction device to enable the slave ring network to access the human-machine interaction device.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a fourth switch in the main ring network, the fourth switch being coupled to an automation control device to enable the main ring network to access the automation control device.